Mike Perreten, a former ski-racer, built himself a longboard so he could glide around the University of Victoria campus.

Tom Edstrand, Perreten’s friend since elementary school, needed to write a mock business plan for a UVic entrepreneurship class.

Was there even anything to discuss?

That was 1997 and longboards were a California phenomenon virtually unknown in Canada. Today, 15 years later, Vancouver-based Landyachtz is one of the top three longboard manufacturers in the world.

A longboard is a more stable skateboard. They have bigger, softer wheels that roll smoothly over rough pavement. They are great for transportation, and for carving down hills in a simulation of surfing and snowboarding.

“You’re getting a little ski run in between your classes,” Perreten said. “All of a sudden it was making your walk to class, to school and back, fun.”

For Edstrand and Perreten, both 36, innovation, creativity and persistence have been the keys to success.

As students, they secured six weeks of workshop space in the Blackcomb ski club cabin by installing a wax room ventilation system. It cost “a couple of days work and 100 bucks in materials,” Perreten said. They built boards from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day “because those were the hours I was used to working (construction) for my ski coach,” Perreten said.

But skateboard retailers “almost laughed us out of the store when we first came in,” Edstrand said. “The guy would say, basically, get out of here. Those things are stupid.”

The guys learned to cajole ski shop and bike store staff into trying out their unusual boards. “We’d set up a meeting with the manager and try to get them to come out into the parking lot,” Edstrand said.

On the advice of a family friend, they steadfastly refused to sell on consignment, but happily left demo boards in stores. Their first slogan was “Slightly more expensive, way better.”

They maintained faith. They quietly followed chat forums where converts rhapsodized over Landyachtz boards. The forums opened up U.S. and global markets.

After three years of working part-time out of garages and basements, they rented commercial space and went full-time. They worked trade shows, sponsored riders and events. Edstrand, who won the International Gravity Sports Association 2005 longboarding world championship, met distributors at competitions worldwide. “That’s how we got some of our distributors in Brazil and in Europe,” he said.

But ultimately, racing wasn’t the focus. “Longboarding is a niche sport and the racing aspect of longboarding is a niche part of longboarding,” he said.

An early challenge was securing repeat end-users. “The regular skateboard industry is really based on consumption,” Edstrand said. Skateboarders will buy six or seven boards a year because they break. “But our boards didn’t break. How do you sell them six or seven boards? The answer is in variety.”

Constant innovation has been critical. With their staff, Perreten and Edstrand almost obsessively modify and refine board stiffness, concavity, shape and materials. Changing the angle of the pivot point on a truck (the metal part holding the wheels) dramatically changes board performance. Four years ago, they hired a full-time engineer from Toyota.

They moved some of their truck casting from Ontario to Asia because they needed better quality, Perreten said. “The factories in Ontario are not as modern,” he said. “People aren’t really investing in aluminum casting factories.”

Landyachtz now maintains almost 40 different models of boards, 20 wheels and six or seven trucks, and introduces a new lineup each year.

They don’t worry about copycats. “Even if you have a patent, somebody’s going to just find a way around it,” Edstrand said. “We have enough ideas coming through. We just try to stay ahead of the game.”

An unanticipated influx of younger, high-school-aged customers using the $130 to $300 longboards for the thrill of speeding down hills has driven sales volume, “but kids don’t understand the rules of traffic as much,” Edstrand said. Landyachtz has responded by “making sure that there’s not as much speed,” and focusing on a hybrid product to shift the emphasis onto tricks.

“From day one, we’ve been building a sport as well as building a brand, so we really have to think about how this sport interacts with society,” Edstrand said.

Demand has grown 20 to 100 per cent each year. When the guys pulled back production in Nov. 2008, demand greatly outstripped supply. The recession affected them only “by the fact that we got scared and we didn’t produce enough,” Edstrand said.

Most of their competition is in California. Their top competitor is Billabong-owned Sector 9 in San Diego. Landyachtz sells to more than 30 countries and is in 500 U.S. stores.

Their biggest markets are the U.S. and Canada followed by Australia, Brazil, Scandinavia and Germany. The company employs 60 in Vancouver and 15 in California, produces 2,000 longboards a week and owns its 9,000-square-foot East Vancouver building.

“Every day, I ride my skateboard. I take my board to lunch with my dog. It’s awesome. I’m managing people, doing accounting. I know the path I’m going to take. I know that this sidewalk is really fun. It’s like going skiing for half an hour every day.”

jennylee@vancouversun.comBlog:vancouversun.com/smallbusiness

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